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There has been a lot of talk about the newest New York Whole Foods that opened up a few weeks ago on the Lower East Side. The store features Whole Foods' first ever Fromagerie. Though they have always had a reasonably large cheese selection, I’ve never been impressed with the cheese departments at other WF stores. There’s simply too much precut (great for the grab-and-go consumer, not so great for the cheese itself) and lackluster cheese. After hearing that both French affineur extraordinaire Hervé Mons and England's Neal’s Yard Dairy were involved, my interest was suitably peaked. I had to investigate.

Name: Gorwydd Caerphilly
Producer: Gorwydd Farm (Ceredigion, Wales)
Milk: Raw Cow's Milk
Age: 2 months
Price: $22.99-29.00/lb.

I never expected to be impressed by Caerphilly. I had tasted examples of this cheese before and its straightforward, dry, citrus-like flavor was good, if not uninspiring. Then I tasted Gorwydd Caerphilly and everything was illuminated. This is what Caerphillly should taste like! Throw out the generic, rindless stuff that doesn’t even come from Wales, the country that made Caerphilly famous. In fact, until recently, most Caerphillly came from Somerset, England as a result of a situation brought about by competition from other countries at the turn of the century, and continued due to production restrictions made during World War II.

Name: Valdeon
Producer: Various (Castile-León, Spain)
Milk: Raw Cow's, Goat's & Sheep's Milk
Age: 2-4 months
Price: $12.99-16.25

Amongst the towering wheels of Stilton and Roquefort, one blue cheese often gets overlooked. Valdeon, sometimes sold as Cabrales, is a bit of an underdog in the realm of blue cheeses. Even though it’s one of Spain’s top cheeses, it somehow has not gained the notoriety of its English and French counterparts.

Name: Shepherd's Basket
Producer: Valley Shepherd Creamery (Long Valley, NJ)
Milk: Raw Sheep's Milk
Age: 4-5 months+
Price: $21.00/lb.

Whether it is restaurants or cheesemakers, I am always wary when someone offers too many options. Maybe this is because it makes me thing of the old adage “jack of all trades, master of none”, in which by trying to do too much, everything ends up being mediocre. So, when I came across Valley Shepherd Creamery, producers of about 20 different cheeses, needless to say, I was a bit suspicious.

Name: Brie
Producer: Various (Ile-de-France, France)
Milk: Raw/Thermalized/Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Age: 2 months
Price: $12.99-20.25

How is Brie like a Sam Adams beer? I have a theory. To me, Sam Adams is the in between beer. It is for people who are ready to graduate from Bud Light, but not quite ready for the extra money and commitment it takes to wade through an endless sea of unknown labels. This is not a bad thing. I think people need these stepping stones. Brie is the equivalent in the cheese world, but there is one caveat.  Real brie, the sort of cheese you can't get in this country, is a different, far more pungent animal than what most people perceive as "brie".

Name: Coolea
Producer: Willems Family (Macroom, Ireland)
Milk: Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Age: 6 months+
Price: $17.00/lb

Better late than never, right? Despite the fact the St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, I felt that I couldn’t let it pass by without hitting upon an Irish cheese to review. In a country where the livestock outnumber the people, it’s no wonder that there are some amazing cheeses being produced. Among them is Coolea, Ireland’s answer to Gouda (fitting as it’s made by a Dutch family living in Country Cork).

Name: Tetilla
Producer: Various (Galencia, Spain)
Milk: Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Age: 2 months+
Price: $8.99-10.00/lb.

There are a few good lines in the world of cheese. “Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality” by Clifton Fadimon is one of the most well known, but, to me, no quote so accurately and lovingly describes an individual cheese than the Spanish saying that Tetilla “tastes of kisses”. There is even a poem about the romance of Tetilla that you can read here.

Name: Monte Enebro
Producer: Queserias del Tietar (Madrid, Spain)
Milk: Pasteurized Goat's Milk
Age: 3 months+
Price: $21.98-$27.75/lb

During my continually ongoing education as a cheesemonger, I have often compiled lists of my ‘top 10 cheeses’, based on what I was in love with at the time. The list would invariably change each time, but certain cheeses remained constant members of this exclusive list. One of those is the Spanish cheese Monte Enebro. If a young, fresh crottin represents one end of the goat cheese court, Monte Enebro has its proverbial feet planted firmly in the other. Full flavored and definitively goaty, it’s not for the faint of heart or the anti-goat crowd. On the other hand, those looking for a punchy cheese with superb texture and flavor can look no further.

Name: Reblochon
Producer: Various (Savoie, France)
Milk: Raw Cow's Milk
Age: 30 days+
Price: $14.00-$21.50/lb

I’ve seen signs, at both cheese counters where I’ve worked, describing a cheese as “sexy”. In the past, I just laughed it off. Now, I find myself using the very same word to describe Reblochon. This cheese is so lush, rich and impossibly silken in texture, it creates a very sensual experience on the tongue.

I’ve received numerous questions in regards to raw milk cheeses during my time selling cheese. Is it safe? What does it “raw” mean (in the case of milk, it means unpasteurized)? Why can’t we sell young raw milk cheeses in the US?

Name: Taleggio
Producer: Various (Lombardy, Italy)
Milk: Pasteurized/Raw Cow's Milk
Age: 35 days+
Price: $11.50-$14.00

Once you get past the domineering dual giants of Parmigiano and Pecorino, Italy produces a wonderful array of complex cheeses, worthy of attention. Spearheading this line of underdogs, though popular in its own right, is Taleggio. An ancient cheese (the Taleggio Cheese Protection Union, an organization responsible for protecting the name Taleggio, claims its roots go back before the 10th century), Taleggio is a fine example from an area which produces excellent cheeses (many of which, like Gorgonzola and Marscapone, have been equally as corrupted by factory production).

Name: Banon
Producer: Various (Provence, France)
Milk: Pasteurized Goat's Milk (generally)
Age: 3 weeks+
Price: $3.99-$13.99

Banon. Simply the sound it makes rolling off the tounge conveys quite a bit about this cheese. Banon. Small, rustic and definitively French.

Produced in Haute Alps area of Provence, Banon is a cheese rich in terroir. Hey, wine folks can't have all the fun. Made from the milk of any number of the approximately 100 producers that spot the countryside, the cheese is briefly aged before being wrapped in local châtaigner (chestnut) leaves or grape leaves that have been soaked in eau de vie (brandy) or white wine.

Name: Pleasant Ridge Reserve
Producer: Uplands Cheese, Inc.
Milk: Raw Cow
Age: 4-12 months
Price: $22.00-$28.99/lb

Though few states, if any, are as well know for their cheesemaking as Wisconsin, most cheese from there has been strictly factory produced. Unlike Vermont’s hippie “back to the land” vibe, Wisconsin is more like a commerce-driven tourist-trap, a Disneyland for “Cheeseheads”. Seeking to change that image, a new artisanal movement has begun springing up in the state. The best example of this, if not the best cheese from Wisconsin period, is Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese Inc.

Though the image it conveys, as a hearty sustenance for working in the fields, may be a bit outdated in today's world of cubicle jockeys, there are few meals I can think of that are so delicious and yet so inherently simple. It is precisely the rustic nature of the ploughman's lunch that makes it so appealing and romantic.